World

Two men in Indonesia’s Aceh province were publicly caned on Thursday after an Islamic Shariah court convicted them for having consensual gay sex. The men, aged 24 and 18, were whipped across the back dozens of times by a team of five enforcers wearing robes and hoods. One of the men had to be carried because he was too weak to move after the last lash. They were given a break to drink after 20 strokes and their wounds were treated. The men were arrested in November after residents suspected them of being gay, broke into their rented room, where they were caught naked and hugging each other, and took them to Sharia police. Head of Aceh Islamic Sharia Agency, who only gave his name as Ridwan said the public caning was to help prevent “violations of Islamic sharia.”

The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday heard disturbing reports about conflicts in Sudan and South Sudan as Council Members took turns to detail an appalling situation. Edem Wosornu, director of operations and advocacy at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, said since the adoption in June 2024 of a resolution calling for an immediate de-escalation in and around North Darfur, civilians continue to be under attack. The UK’s permanent representative to the UN, Ambassador Barbara Woodward, said two years after the conflict began, she’s still “struck by the reports of death and destruction.” “More violence. more families ripped apart. More children starving,” she said. John Kelley, the Acting U.S. alternate representative to the Security Council reiterated Washington’s position that both warring factions — the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) — should be held accountable for the atrocities.